New Mexico’s prisons will soon have broad changes to how prisoners in solitary confinement are handled -- one of them involving a unique chair.

Most classroom desks and chairs don’t have metal contraptions attached to the side, but it won’t be regular chairs that soon make their way to prisons across the state. The chairs aim to keep potentially dangerous inmates buckled humanely to their desks.

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“If it's not working I’m (going to) get rid of the chairs and find something else,” said corrections secretary Gregg Mercantel.

Mercantel said the new chairs are part of a program being implemented across the country. The program puts the inmates in a class together, where they get to know each other, in an attempt to encourage safe behavior.

“Once anybody gets out of any correctional facility, it's a matter of time before they're back out on the streets, just like you and me,” he said. “State corrections officials are hoping this chair policy might make the streets a little bit safer.”

The education the prisoners will be receiving won’t be any different than the one they receive currently at a one-on-one level in their cells -- the setting will simply change with the help of the new chairs.

The new program will offer incentives and privileges upon completion.

Inmates are building the chairs now and the program is expected to start with a half-dozen prisons at the beginning of the year.